Things Happen
by TotalFanGirl221B
Summary: One shot. I won't say anything else - spoilers!


The children knew that Mr Maddens wouldn't be normal. Some of the teachers wondered why he was even going in after what had happened. However, he felt that going to work was the only thing keeping him sane for the time being. He rode to work on his bike as usual and acted as if everything was normal, and nothing at all had happened. Before he arrived, the headmistress held an assembly to explain that Mr Maddens wasn't going to be quite himself, so the children would have to behave. Even Mr Poppy's face fell and he knew that he wasn't allowed to be his bubbly self.

Mr Maddens entered to a class fully of polite children. He knew something was going on; they must've been told something as they were so out of character already, even Mr Poppy was acting odd. However, he wasn't going to argue with this. He entered normally and tried to smile as he walked in. He arranged everything around him and began to teach his class.

He could see none of the children wanted to listen. They were incredibly bored, as was he. He was tired, too. He hadn't slept for weeks, or eaten. He'd been off work for a couple of days which hadn't helped as there was nothing to occupy him or to take his mind off recent events. So, that's why he'd come back to teach. Clearly, it was a mistake. The children didn't want to learn, he could hardly keep his eyes open. The children could see he was struggling with every little thing, but they didn't complain. Mr Poppy tried his best to help, but Mr Maddens insisted he was alright.

Everything was silent. Mr Maddens had gone off into a dream of the days that had been. The class waited immensely for him to continue with the work, but he didn't. He just paused and began to thing of his wife. How much he loved her. And the children brought the memories back as it was thanks to them, and Mr Poppy, that he got her back. He realised coming back wasn't such a good idea. He stared straight across the classroom just reminiscing by himself. Eventually, Mr Poppy had managed to get his attention. Mr Maddens coughed and sniffed as he realised it was all a dream and that his wife was now gone. "Mr Poppy," Mr Maddens coughed "will you take the children outside, please?" Mr Poppy found this strange. Since when did Mr Maddens let the children out when they should be being taught?

"But, Mr Maddens-"

"Mr Poppy, will you?" Mr Poppy stared at Mr Maddens; he could see in his eyes that he was serious. "The children are bored, you are bored. Please, take them outside." For some reason, Mr Maddens seemed to be getting angrier. Mr Poppy shook his head. "Mr Poppy, take them outside!" he shouted. Mr Poppy seemed startled, as did the children. Mr Maddens took a deep breathe and shook his head. Mr Poppy didn't want to annoy him, so he gathered the children together and took them outside. Mr Maddens nodded to him as a thank you and then sat at his desk. He placed his hands under his chin and took deep breaths in and out. He couldn't take it. Everything was making him angry and upset. Even listening to the children play was infuriating. He came to be occupied, but this was now too much, he'd made a mistake. Every single little noise was annoying him. He soon got too angry and jumped from his seat. He then decided to block each door with a chair and table so nobody would disturb him. Mr Poppy noticed him doing this and tried to run to get inside, but it was no use. The children tried, but they couldn't do anything. Mr Maddens buried himself into a little corner of the classroom. He sat there, eyes wide open, remembering the days that once were. Soon, he couldn't even hear the banging from outside, or the headmistress now banging on the other entrance. She'd let the children and Mr Poppy in another way and they all tried to get Mr Maddens to open the door, but he was too busy stuck in his memories.

"He's not listening," the headmistress quickly grabbed the phone from her pocket as some of the staff and the children from Mr Maddens classroom tried to get him to open the door. He'd somehow blocked every single noise with the velocity of his memories with his wife. The happy ones when he thought it would never end. "I'm calling the police." This shut everyone up for a moment.

"What?"

"I'm just going to get them to open the door. I'm worried about Mr Maddens' safety to himself." The headmistress quickly dialled the number and spoke to them. She was genuinely worried that Mr Maddens' would harm himself in there. She knew how he felt as she had also lost a loved one a long time ago, and she knew the heartache and pain it caused. She felt incredibly sorry for him and wanted him to know she would help him, but he had to let people help.

Eventually, the police arrived and had opened the door. By that time, tears were rolling down Mr Maddens' face as he remembered the moment his wife died. How he sat beside her and held her hand and prayed to God that she would survive. The police lifted him up. He didn't speak a word, the teachers and children watched him being taken out by the police, not arrested, just being taken home. They all felt so sad for him. They'd never seen him this way.

Mr Maddens went in a few days after. He spoke to his class. He wasn't staying for long; he just went to apologise for scaring them. "I just... I just wanted to..." he was breaking down as he said it. He was sorry for scaring them and he didn't mean to upset them, but he was hurting terribly. The headmistress didn't do anything to interfere, as she knew that this wouldn't help and he would get through this by himself, he just had to try. He coughed and took a deep breath as he looked at the children's faces. "I just wanted to apologise... for my behaviour a few days ago. It was stupid of me and I'm sorry if I scared any of you... I don't know what I was thinking, I just couldn't teach." He sniffed. "That's why... that's why I'm going to take a few weeks, maybe a month, off." The children gasped in despair and shock. He was now their favourite teacher and they didn't want him to go; not even if it wasn't permanent. "I'm sorry, but I need to think things out so that I don't scare you or have panic attacks like I did or anything like that." He couldn't say anymore, if he did he would have burst into tears. So, he apologised once more and then the children were taken back to class where the supply teacher they'd been having was waiting.

Weeks had gone by, and Mr Maddens was getting the therapy he needed. He got a video from his class and Mr Poppy asking him to come back soon as they all missed him. They wished he would get better soon so he could come back and teach them as the supply was quite boring. This made him laugh and cry at the same time. He didn't want to miss it, but he couldn't go back there. Not right then. He needed to get his head together and to think things through.

A month had passed. Mr Maddens wandered into the school. The headmistress greeted him with a smile and a hug, as did most of the staff. They were pleased to finally see him back on his feet and working again. It was great as he no longer seemed to be depressed or angry or anything like before. Everything had worked and now he was back to his normal life. Yes, it was without his wife, but he didn't want to live just wishing she was alive with him. He had to try and get over it for himself and for the children he was just about to go and greet. He felt so good and knew he had done the right thing in taking a break. Yes, some of it was hard and extremely emotional, but he got through it and he was proud of that.

He walked over to the classroom door. He peered in and saw all the children staring at their supply, listening to her boring teaching. They all seemed like they were going to die of boredom. Suddenly, they heard a knock at the door. They were about to turn when their teacher told them to continue with their work as she went to see who it was. She smiled as she saw him. She slowly opened the door to let him in. The children were still doing their work as they'd been told until they heard a little cough from someone behind them. They all turned at once to see Mr Maddens standing there, smiling at them. They all jumped out of their seats shouting and cheering. They were so happy to see him smiling and for him to be back. Even Mr Poppy reacted that way when he found out he was back. He hadn't been in the classroom at the time, but he came in soon after.

Mr Maddens was so happy and gleeful with the reaction he got when he walked through the door. He'd missed these children so much; he'd missed teaching them. It felt great to be back where he belonged.

* * *

**Thanks for reading :) Please leave a review **


End file.
